Nancy Hendrickson's Clips

"Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen and not a shadow of an idea of what you are going to say." Francoise Sagan

Collecting Astro Stuff (Astronomy)
On the shelf between Mr. Spock and my Mars Rover sits a piece of astronomical history--a replica of the Hale Telescope's 200-inch mirror.  Issued by the Corning Glass Works as a 1939 World's Fair souvenir, the 3-1/2-inch memento is part of my growing collection of astronomy and space memorabilia.  This collection, I must admit, was born more from a love of toys than building a wide-based investment portfolio.  The serious collector never cracks the plastic on his purchases.  My Mars Rover runs rampant.

A year ago I was a babe in the woods, a novice collector who could have walked past Edwin Hubble’s pipe without a backward glance.   I knew I liked space-related antiques, but didn’t realize they’re collected as ardently as Elvis fans snatch up souvenir plates.   All that changed the day I walked into a Carlsbad, California antique shop, saw a fire engine red Tom Corbett Space Cadet lunch box and asked “how much?”  “Three hundred,” the owner replied.  Gulp.  

In the year since, I’ve talked to other collectors, researched the field, and acquired a few choice pieces at yard sales, antique stores and online auctions.   I’ve discovered that astronomy and space collectibles can be had for less than a buck or as much as $50,000.  Some of what’s collected will surprise you,  some won’t.  And some will turn you green with envy because, as a kid, you once owned them.  If you think you’d like to get into the collectibles game, here’s how.  

I know I’m not the only one who’s dreamed of stopping at a yard sale and finding an Alvan Clark refractor peeking out from under a pile of old baby clothes.  Well don’t get your hopes up.  Yard sales can turn up unexpected treasures but a Clark probably isn’t one of them.    The good news is that they do exist – finding an available one is the problem.   Ken Launie, a founder of the Antique Telescope Society, says a Clark will occasionally come up at antique auctions but they’re quickly snapped up.  The competition is fierce and the price is high.    Maddeningly, you may be competing against a dealer who’s buying the scope for “the look”, with plans of re-selling it to a client who wants it simply for decor.   

If you’re not set on a Clark, but want to get your collection started with an antique instrument, your chances of finding one are excellent.  There are older, unsigned refractors available which start at only a few hundred dollars.  But,  caveat emptor!  Launie tells of a number of bogus reproduction telescopes on the market that the sellers, themselves, believe to be originals.   Some fine old instruments will appear in antique stores, The Starry Messenger, online at Astromart, or on eBay, an online auction.   Occasionally Vernonscope holds auctions for antique scientific instruments (look for their ad in Astronomy magazine); auction houses like Christies are other possible sources.  For the serious collector, knowing the originality of the optics is just as important as the authenticity of the scope itself.  The value can drop to half in a scope with replacement optics. If your heart is set on a piece of optical history, join the Antique Telescope Society, educate yourself and network like crazy.

Don’t give up on yard sales for other treasures, though.  It’s possible you’ll find a space toy worth enough to pay for your first antique refractor. Flash Gordon’s Space Car – you do still have yours, don’t you? - sells for $400.00, while 1950’s “ray guns” can haul in the price of a Nagler eyepiece. 

The big money, though, is in robots, particularly those made by the Japanese when Ike was still in the White House.  Back then, Masudaya Company issued the  “Gang of Five” robots which today sell today for between $5000.00 and $20,000 each.  One of them - - Machine Man  - -  auctioned for over $42,000.00!  Bill O’Neill of Robots and Space Toys will happily sell you the recently released reproduction set.  A collector himself, Bill caught the robot bug as a kid, thanks to growing up with  Japanese friends who preferred Godzilla over Superman.  Years later, while helping at an antique show, he saw a toy robot and “something clicked.”  Today, his selection of vintage and repro robots will tempt you to max out your Visa.  

Like antique telescopes, buying old robots can be a tricky business, with reproductions being passed off as vintage items.  Robot-guru Brian Hayes of the UK has an extensive robot Internet site which includes articles on rating a robot’s condition and making smart buys.   Of course, a mint robot in its original mint box is easy to value - - it’s all the other ones that present a price challenge!    If you want a 1950’s tin robot, steer clear of ones with signs of corrosion - - they’re only worth about 10% of mint value.  

Why are robots such hot sellers?   Brian thinks their popularity is due to a nostalgic look back at the 1950’s, space movies, Sputnik and the moon landing. “The people who were brought up in that apparently cosy climate are now financially secure enough to pour some of it into space toys.” And we do.

A less expensive way to build your collection is to buy a reproduction robot that’s clearly billed as one.  Besides, in another 40 years the reproductions will be considered vintage!  Bruce and Ella of Robots by Simple Junk specialize in robot reproductions.  Like most dealers, they got started as collectors by buying a few robots, then mentioning them to friends.  Before they knew it they were in the robot business!  Although you can advertise vintage robots on their Web site,  everything they sell is new.  Bruce thinks the current Japanese reproductions are actually better made than the originals, and a vintage robot which sells for over $1000.00 can be picked up in repro form for $25.00.  

One of the most recent non-robot toys to have a taken off is the  Mattel Hot Wheels Mars Rover.  The day of the Pathfinder landing,  the JPL store sold out of 1500 Action Packs  in 20 minutes.  “We could have sold 5000,” said store manager Mark Banuelos.  Mattel’s Sara Rosales said the Mars package was the first time the company had done a space toy that’s an authentic replica.  Mattel even sent Hot Wheels designers to JPL to make certain all the details were perfect.  

The joint JPL-Mattel venture was such a success they’ve teamed up for another go-round with a 1999 debut of the Hot Wheels Jupiter/Europa Encounter Action Pack.  Good luck finding one of those in Toys ‘R Us - - they’re gobbled up fast.  The Mars Rover is sitting on my shelf only because I was the successful bidder at an online auction.  

Remember the collectibles I said cost under a buck?  Luckily you won’t have to go to an auction to find them - - they’re sitting behind the counter at  your local stamp store.   If you haven’t collected stamps since you were a kid, you may not know that philately is more specialized than ever.  Instead of collecting by country, many hobbyists now collect by special interests.   Tropical fish, robots, trains, dogs, dolls, butterflies, waterfalls, horses, airplanes, medicine, explorers - - they all have become niche collectibles.  Ditto with astronomy and space.  I  asked Mary Rathbone of Kei-Mar Stamps about the popularity of space stamps.  “They’re never as sought after as the latest fad stamps like Princess Di, but we always have a steady market for them.”  And, unlike those Clark scopes, you can still buy a collectible stamp for two bits.    

Did you know the U.S. Post Office’s 1947 commemorative depicting the Hale telescope is considered the world’s first space stamp?   Since that Palomar stamp,  the world’s postal services have gone space crazy.  Several years ago the Eastern European countries were the most prolific, with commemoratives touting the big Russian rockets, Soviet astronomy and of course Sputnik.  More recently,  everyone’s gotten into the game, with some of the most colorful from island nations like Palau (10 points to anyone who knows where that is!).  Their souvenir sheet depicting Edwin Hubble and the 1993 and 1997 Hubble repair missions are breathtaking.  The bonus is the whole set sells for under $15.00.

Although the USPO has issued Shuttle commemoratives, a Mars Pathfinder sheet, and a few space missions, it’s missed the astronomy/space boat compared to other countries. A small sampling of international issues include Australia’s commemoration of the International Space Year, with stamps picturing the Helix Nebula, Pleaides and Spiral Galaxy NGC 2997,  Micronesia, Sri Lanka, and British Antarctic Territory’s Halley’s Comet, Mongolia’s  history of space exploration, Nicaragua’s sheet of famous astronomers and their telescopes, Liberia’s issue honoring Copernicus, Germany’s Year of the Quiet Sun, and Tristan Da Cunha Southern Hemisphere constellations.  Of these,  none cost more than $20.00, and most are under $5.00.  For the collector on a budget, stamps will give you a lot of bang for your bucks.

A small step up the dollar ladder turn you into a collector of old space and astronomy books.  Decades before the Space Race, writers like Jules Verne pondered about life in space.  More often than not, the speculation has been way off.   Even into the 1950’s, illustrations depicting the lunar surface show jagged mountains instead of the rolling landscape beamed back to Earth early in the Space Age.  

Those space books from the 1950’s are among the most popular, along with virtually anything relating to the Hale telescope.  There’s something about Palomar that makes us want to own a bit of it.   Palomar booklets, Palomar postcards, Palomar drawings and photos, and of course the book Glass Giant of Palomar (recently selling for $50.00) are the ones everyone wants.  The good news is that they’re frequently on the market, and reasonably priced.  Local used bookstores, The Starry Messenger, online auctions, and Astromart will turn up dozens of  collectible books.  

A sub-niche in the book market is children’s space books, particularly ones from the 1950’s.   I’ve witnessed online auction shoot-outs between several collectors all gunning for the same book.  Part of their  charm is their naiveté about our bright future in space, part is the retro art work.  John Sisson, Biological Science Librarian at UC Irvine, and space artist Alexa Smith, are two of the most enthusiastic collectors in the field.  John grew up a block from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  When his grade school friends brought in photos from their father’s missions he was hooked.  As an adult, John began collecting children’s books on space flight, spanning the 1950 to 1990’s, and his web page is a tribute to the words and pictures that inspired a generation.  

Alexa Smith collects children’s space books from the 1800’s to current time.  “I love the illustrations and stories,  and the books themselves compile a history of the different space programs from a child’s point of view.  Prior to the 1960’s, most children’s books about space were based more in fantasy than reality.”  Today Alexa uses digital media to create space related art.  Someday, I wonder, will we be bidding on her work at auction?

A relatively recent  collectible niche began the day Yuri Gagarin slipped into his Vostok - -  anything relating to astronauts.   Autographs, photos, “flown items” (those things that actually went into Space), models of the Lunar Lander, John Glenn models. . . anything is up for grabs.  Texan Ricky Lanclos began seriously collecting astronaut items after the 20th anniversary of Apollo 11.   A NASA book here, a shoulder patch there and a passion was born.  His quest for collectibles has taken him to the Kennedy Space Center, Huntsville, Alabama and even Russia’s Star City.  He acquired so many items  he began trading with other collectors, and eventually began buying and selling astronaut collectibles.   If you see someone on the eBay online auction named Rocketman, it’s Ricky.  Tell him hi.

For those of us who witnessed our first halting steps into space, it  continues to own us just as surely as we want to own it.   Baking soda-propelled rockets,  HST models,  Hale telescope bread wrapper inserts, Mars Rovers, Gilbert telescopes, solar system clocks - - the objects we collect are as varied as them stars themselves.  My own collection is small.  On the advice of an antique dealer, I buy only what I truly love.  For Ken Launie that may be historic glass, for John and Alexa a mint copy of the Little Golden Book of Exploring Space.  And me?  All I want is a moon rock.     Hey!  Anybody got a friend over at NASA?